Distance walked: 22km, Time taken: 6 hours
Well today was not a day of holiday highlights. I decided to do the last segment anticlockwise which turned out to have good and bad points. The good side of things was the initial stretch out of St Helier was as dreary as I feared as it was along busy main roads, through industrial areas. I got to go around a power station!
Once out of St Helier and into the next parish, St Clement, it was all walking down pavement along suburban streets, with only occasional glimpses of the sea through gaps in the houses. If I wanted to walk around suburbs during the day and then dine out at night I could have stayed in Melbourne and saved on the airfare. Once into the next parish again I was able to abandon the streets and walk along the beach as the tide was out. Part of this walk lead me past a golf course which has to be one of the hardest places to play as I expect there is always a strong wind either onshore or offshore. There certainly was today. The golfers were having to aim 45 degrees off to one side so it would come somewhere near the green.
I stopped at the village of Gorey for lunch (sadly no connection to Edward Gorey) after which it was almost all walking on what is euphemistically termed "green lanes". This just means narrow country roads. Some are bus routes but are too narrow for two buses to pass so they have to coordinate with the bus coming in the opposite direction to determine who gets to enter the lane first. Road walking is at best dull and can be downright unpleasant when there is a lot of traffic. Still, the car that came closest to running me down was a Ferrari so at least I would have died with style.
I was glad I'd walked in this direction as the last little section into Rozel Bay was back along tracks up and down spectacular cliffs and along beautiful bays which was more like the walk yesterday and was a pleasant way to end the day. Both guidebooks again failed to give accurate estimates of the distance of this section. Both underestimated it this time. I'm glad I did the extra piece yesterday.
One section of the last part was along a sea wall from one end of a bay to the other. I got about a third of the way along and was confronted with a sign saying the path was closed. There was no way up to the road above the bay so the only (official) alternative was to turn back. I couldn't see any problems with the wall in the closed section. It seemed as sturdy as the parts to either side and the slope above as stable so I just jumped the barrier and carried on. There were a few sections were the path got very narrow and the drop to rocks on the seaward side was precipitous (the tide was out) so perhaps that was the reason why it was closed. When I got to the other end I had to walk past a lifeboat station with two lifeguards outside. I expected to get scolded as was obvious I'd walked along the forbidden section as there was no other access to the path I'd come along. However, the were either unaware or unconcerned and I passed without comment. Perhaps they don't trouble themselves about people who come to grief on land as that isn't their domain.
I got to Rozel Bay about 10 minutes after the bus had left. My luck has deserted me. I waited 50 minutes for the next, along with an increasingly large crowd of other hikers. However, when the bus arrived it was full! The stop before ours was at a zoo and it was full of holidaymakers on their way home. We were told to wait for the next one - in another hour's time, although there would be no guarantee it wouldn't be full up either. We conferred and considered the possibility of walking to another bus stop on a different route but we all just had hiking maps which didn't show anything as prosaic as a bus stop. In the end an English couple and I went into the nearby pub and got them to call us a taxi and drank beer while we waited for it. I ended up getting back to St Helier 2 hours later than planned. If I'd walked the other way I'd have had no trouble getting a seat on the bus to Rozel Bay and would have got back on schedule but then I'd have ended the walk skirting a power station so perhaps I got the better deal.
I'm considering whether I should walk all around Guernsey next. There is no need to do so other than because. I think I would have had a better time here if I'd just walked the north-western and north coasts of Jersey and then spent the other days walking inland routes. I might even have gotten the chance to see a cow. I'll talk to Alex tomorrow and find out how much of the coast route around Guernsey is on paths and how much on roads and decide then.
Now, onto the food. I just had lunch at a pub, the Dolphin, in Gorey. Fish and chips ordered at the bar with a pint of the local Mary Ann dark ale. The fish was fillets of plaice and I didn't just get 1 fillet I got 4! Among the packets of condiments (HP sauce, ketchup, tartare sauce, worcestershire sauce) there was malt vinegar. Blessed be. I was tempted to souvenir all the little packets of the stuff. The fish had clearly been cooked sometime earlier and kept warm under a heat lamp but was tasty (without being too fishy) for all that.
While I was waiting for the bus in Rozel, I stopped at a tea shop for scones with jam and cream and a pot of green tea. The scone was one of those fruit scone abominations and the tea was English Breakfast. To be fair to the waitress, the tea bag did have a green label.
I had dinner at the hotel restaurant tonight, the Candlelight. We also have breakfast served there. It is dimly lit, as if by candlelight, which is romantic at night but rather gloomy at breakfast time. They have two sittings - one at 6:45pm which seemed to be purely for hotel guests and then another later one at 8:30pm for normal people. It was amusing to watch them feed us quickly but without making us feel rushed. They did quite a good job of it but I've never eaten 3 courses quite so quickly before.
As my starter I had a mushroom and leek tart with a blue cheese topping. It was strongly flavoured without being too rich which was pleasing. For main I had fillet of bream with ginger and bok choy. This sadly was dull and only tasted of ginger. The overcooked, reheated fish at lunch was better tasting. For dessert I had panna cotta with berries. It turned out to be chocolate panna cotta which, while pleasant, came as a surprise. In the dim restaurant lighting I didn't realise it was brown and chocolate flavoured until I took a bite.
Now I'm back in my room trying to get everything back into my suitcase. It all fitted in before!
No comments:
Post a Comment